Game Over (a Wreck-It Ralph AU Fanfic Based on the Fanart By Py-Bun)
by MTRgirl101
Summary: Alternate universe in that it takes place in the real world/they're not video game characters. Penelope von Scheetz is a nine-year-old girl who wants to be in the local soap box derby. This is what starts off her friendship with Ralph, a grown man whose money she stole to get into the derby. Thirty-one years later, Ralph winds up in the hospital and it just might be the end.
1. The Past

Hey guys! This is the first fanfic I'm posting on the internet and I hope you enjoy it. I'm forewarning you that this one is sad. I've written others but have deleted them over the years deeming them terrible. I'm comfortable posting this one and I have another WIR fanfic in the works that is much longer that I hope you'll also enjoy. I'm also planning on writing fanfics based on any of the many other fandoms I'm in. *Heart* you guys and check out the fanart this is based on, on Py-Bun (Roniña Rodriguez)'s DeviantArt account.

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It seemed like such a long time ago for Penelope when she met her best friend Ralph. It was a nice July day, she was nine years old and really wanted to participate in the local annual soap box derby, but mean old Tabitha Mutton stole the money she saved and asking her parents to give her, her allowance a day early was not an option because there was no one to take Penelope to the derby with Ms. Stickler (her babysitter) not wanting to and her parents didn't want her to go that far from home alone. Ms. Stickler never knew Penelope was building her kart in the basement anyway as like clockwork, she fell asleep all afternoon only being woken up by Penelope's parents returning. It was the last day to sign up and pay the entry fee and with no money, she was upset that she couldn't participate after all her hard work. Penelope was sitting in her favorite tree in the park when she spotted a wallet. "I know it's a little dishonest," Penelope thought "but their license should be in there and I'll drop off their wallet in their mailbox and write down their address to give them their money back tomorrow." She climbed down the old oak tree then grabbed the wallet and thankfully there was enough in there to pay the fee. Penelope was overjoyed that she could race after all then she immediately started dreaming of winning first place.

She took the money she needed and put the rest back then wrote down the address of a guy named Ralph on a piece of paper she had in the pocket of her hoodie. Penelope looked at the photo then saw that according to this piece of plastic, he's a little over seven feet tall. Was that even possible!? She thought it was a clerical error but then thought that if it's right, she just stole from a real-life Incredible Hulk. Penelope heard a man shout from a distance "HEY YOU ROTTEN THIEF! GIVE ME BACK MY WALLET!" She looked up; it was Ralph coming right towards her. She realized as he was getting closer, that was no clerical error. But she wasn't afraid, she was going to race no matter what. Ralph caught up to Penelope extending a hand in front of her, and it was like a bear's paw. "Hand it over!" Ralph snapped. Penelope gave him back his wallet and started to walk away towards the sign-up booth. "And the money you took out. Don't think that I didn't see that." Ralph said annoyed. But instead of returning the money, Penelope bolted to the booth and lost him as he shouted while chasing her "Come back! I'll find you! I will find you!" the last thing she heard him shout was "Nowhere to hide!" She went through the line and paid her fee; she was in! In your faces Tabitha Mutton, Lloyd Orand, Juliana Bingley, Francis Flug, Candelaria Whitehead, Corinna DiCamillo, Mindy Zaki, Adora Winterton, Shania Reinholdt, Samuel Markley, Stacy Wipperman, Citra Fluckiger, Tovah Batterman, and Nusa Bronstain! Penelope von Scheetz is going to win!

On her way home, Penelope was stopped by a familiar voice. "_YOOOU!_" shouted Ralph as he crossed the street "GET BACK HERE!" Penelope tried to outrun Ralph but he grabbed her by her mint green hoodie. "Listen kid." Ralph said calmer "All I want is the money I saw you take out of my wallet and put into your pocket. Give it back and there won't be any trouble, I won't even tell your parents, I swear." "Not that I don't believe there wouldn't be any trouble and you wouldn't tell my parents but, I already spent the money to enter in the soap box derby." explained Penelope. Ralph was furious, shouting "HOW DARE YOU!" "Relax!" said Penelope "My plan all along was to give the money back to you tomorrow when I get my allowance. That's why I wrote down your address, there was even going to be an apology note explaining my actions." Ralph rubbed the bridge of his nose; he was one hundred percent done with this kid saying "Just, just give me my money back tomorrow, okay kid." "I promise." said Penelope then they parted ways. She planned on taking her kart out for a spin on her trip to Ralph's house as his street was on a steep hill. Penelope needed to practice if she was going to win and this was a good opportunity.

The next day, Penelope got her allowance from her parents like she planned and they were none the wiser about Ralph or that she was in the soap box derby after they said no. They headed off to work telling her their usual "Stay out of trouble while we're gone." Penelope promised she'd behave for Ms. Stickler and truth be told she usually did stay out of trouble while they were gone. Her parents waved goodbye as Penelope did the same and her mom blew her a kiss before closing the back door. She heard their car pull out of the driveway and head down the road as she finished her milk and cereal. Ms. Stickler had an accurate name and was always bossing Penelope around about something until she fell asleep on the couch. Ms. Stickler fell asleep and Penelope got her kart from the loft in the garage. It was a wreck of a kart but Penelope was proud of her creation, the Likkity-Split. The Likkity-Split was mint green (as it was Penelope's favorite color) with its name written on the sides in red paint and had mix matched plastic wheels, a shoddy circular piece of plywood on a metal post for a steering wheel, a wonky looking rear wing, the tall flag and squeeze horn from her bike, and an um-uh, unusually shaped and haphazardly designed flimsy body (just as haphazard as the rest of the kart). Penelope pushed her kart over to her desired street then she rode down the sidewalk honking the horn and telling people to "watch out!" and to "get out of the way!" as there weren't any brakes on it of course. She had such a great time riding in it.

She made it to Ralph's house and checked the address while holding Mr. McBun-Bun (she had him with her most times being her favorite toy) then rang the doorbell hoping he was home. "Ding-dong" Penelope heard the doorbell ring from inside then she heard some footsteps approaching the front door. The doorknob turned then the front door opened and there was Ralph with a "well look who we have here" look on his face. "So," he said "do you have my money you little thief?" "I do." said Penelope then she handed Ralph the money she owed him. "Thanks, and, good luck in the race." said Ralph then he saw the kart behind her and tried to hold back a wince. "Is that your kart?" he asked. "Yep! I built it myself!" Penelope said beaming with pride. "I bet you did." said Ralph trying to sound like she did a good job. "Well, I guess maybe I'll see you around." said Penelope. "Yeah, I'll see you around." said Ralph hoping to never have to deal with that little brat again and he went back inside. Penelope was about to go back up the hill and ride again then Tabitha and her minions showed up. Surprisingly, Stacy, Tovah, Citra, and Nusa weren't there, the fourteen of them were hardly apart from each other. Tabitha was working on a small lollipop and Penelope said "Hello fellow racers! Candelaria, Tabitha, Francis, you're looking well. You came by to check out the competition huh." then danced around as she proudly said "Well here it is, the Likkity-Split!"

Her classmates sneered then Penelope said with pride "I built it myself. Fastest kart this side of the country, check out the horn." then Penelope honked the horn with an "awesome, right?" look on her face as the others gave various gestures of disgust/oh please, including Julianna Bingley who was rolling her eyes. "Awe Penelope, it's so… _you_." said Tabitha then she licked her lollipop and said "But, you have to back out of the race. Yeah." "Oh, no, I, I don't. You know 'cause I paid my fee and I'm on the board. So _yeeeah, I'm definitely racing._" Penelope replied smugly. "Yeah well, losers can't race. You'll just embarrass yourself in the derby." said Tabitha. "I'm not a loser, Tabitha, I can beat all of you in the race." said Penelope. "I can't believe you think you'll win Penelope. _You'll come in last, and that kart is such a hazard_." said Tabitha as she went up to the Likkity-Split and got in then said "Say I'm you. I'm in my weird little car and I'm steering and I actually feel kind of cool for once, then all of a sudden, oh no! My shoddy kart is falling apart!" as she yanked on the steering wheel, pulling it off. Penelope was mortified as she gasped at what Tabitha was doing. "Hey!" she shouted. "You see! You're an accident waiting to happen." said Tabitha then she threw the broken steering wheel at Penelope, hitting her in the stomach. "Oh no! My kart's giving way!" said Juliana as she went up to the Likkity-Split and hit it, causing a dent. "Hey! Hey! What are you doing!" Penelope cried out then the others joined in to destroy her kart. "Stop! You're breaking it!" she begged and pleaded with the others as she tried desperately to pull them off her kart.

The others mocked her. "Please! I just wanna race like you guys!" Penelope pleaded as she continued to pry the others off her kart and managed to pull Tabitha away which angered her. "You will _never_ win the derby," Tabitha said coldly as she walked up to Penelope making her back up "because _you're, a loser_," Tabitha was still making Penelope back up and poked her in the chest when she said "loser" then said "and a loser is _all-you'll ever-be._" then Tabitha shoved Penelope into a nearby mud puddle. "HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!" a familiar voice shouted. Penelope looked up and saw Ralph was standing at the front steps pointing and shouting at the bullies. Apparently, the commotion got his attention and he decided to intervene after seeing what was happening to this poor girl. The bullies froze like a herd of deer in headlights then Ralph charged at them screaming and the bullies ran away screaming, scared of the giant man barreling towards them. "Let's get out of here!" Tabitha shouted as they ran down the street to get away from Ralph. "SCRAM YOU ROTTEN LITTLE KIDS, BEFORE I THROW _YOU_ IN THE MUD!" Ralph shouted at the bullies then kicked the ground while making a small angry noise for good measure. Penelope got up as she sniffled then looked back at Ralph and said with attitude "What are _you_ looking at?" "You're welcome you rotten little thief." said Ralph all snarky. "I'm not a thief! I was just borrowing your stupid money so I could be in the race! I gave it back to you, didn't I!?" said Penelope still distraught. "You shouldn't have taken that 'stupid money' in the first place young lady and you know it." said Ralph.

"Whatever, just go back inside and do whatever it is you do all day." said Penelope while still rummaging through the remains of the Likkity-Split. "I chase away those cretins who were very rude to you, most likely plenty of times before, and that's how you talk to me." said Ralph. "I'm sorry." Penelope apologized in between sniffles "I'm not ungrateful about you sticking up for me, I'm just upset about how I can't race now without a kart. I worked so hard on it too." Ralph looked at what was left of the little raven-haired girl's kart and felt bad for her then he had a crazy idea. "How about this." said Ralph "I don't really know much about building a soap box kart, but I'll help you build a new one. If it's alright with your parents." "You would do that for me?" asked Penelope in disbelief with a hint of joy. "Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?" said Ralph. "I could get the supplies and maybe you can come over for dinner and meet my parents so we could have permission to build it together." said Penelope. "Again, if it's alright with your folks, I'll come over for dinner." said Ralph. "I'll let you know their answer then." said Penelope then they shook hands on their deal. "I'll talk to you later!" said Penelope as she happily scampered away, back to her home. Ralph and Penelope waved goodbye to each other and it really did seem like the more Ralph interacted with Penelope, the more he liked her as he even smiled at her as she headed up the road.

He had already forgiven her for borrowing his money without permission and thought she was adorable with her hair kept in a high pony tail tied with a big red bow (save for her bangs that were split in half to make a fringe on both sides of her head), her comfy looking hoodie, her little black sneakers with pink soles, her little black layered skirt, and her mint green leggings with red and white stripes. Penelope's parents okayed Ralph coming over for dinner after Penelope explained what happened and their plan to build a new kart, also okaying participating in the soap box derby if she was right about the babysitter as most likely, the new babysitter would be willing to take her. That was because besides some scolding, there was concern about Penelope bringing up yet again since they recently hired Ms. Stickler that she falls asleep on the job and is mean to Penelope. They fired Ms. Stickler once they snuck in and found out through questions about what happened that afternoon that she couldn't answer that Penelope was indeed telling the truth. Penelope told them Ralph was thirty-two years old but they hadn't expected their daughter to befriend a hulky, seven-foot-four-inch tall man but were happy to have him as a dinner guest regardless. They didn't mind Penelope hanging out with him after meeting her new friend. Ralph returned Mr. McBun-Bun before he left, almost forgetting about the cute, fuzzy, one-foot-tall, light blue rabbit with long, floppy ears and a green ribbon around his neck tied in a bow (Penelope accidentally left him behind and Ralph washed him as he got a lot of mud on him thanks to Tabitha and most of her friends). Penelope's parents got to thinking and offered to hire Ralph as the new babysitter to which he very happily accepted.

Eventually they finished the kart and the new kart was well built but there were some hiccups cosmetically, especially with the paint job. The mint green that was on the kart somehow got mixed with other colors making it look like they just dumped random colors of paint on it with it being mostly brown and dark purple then Penelope got a little crazy with the decorations and glitter (actually, a lot of crazy). Ralph facepalmed at the abomination (well, he thought it was) thinking that Penelope wasn't going to like it based on her initial look of shock and apologized saying he tried but never built a kart before. "I love it." she said with awe in almost a whisper. "You do?" asked Ralph. "I love it." she said almost crying tears of joy then shouted "I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!" as she jumped for joy all over the darn place. She went on and on about all she thought was great about her new kart with Ralph smiling then said "C'mon, a work of art like this, _needs to be signed_." as she held a paint brush in each hand, one with mint green paint and the other with red paint (she remembered that red was Ralph's favorite color from when she asked him the other day). On one side of the kart, Penelope signed "made by Penelope" in her pretty cursive handwriting while Ralph signed "AND RALPH" underneath it in his kinda sloppy handwriting.

Penelope thought her new kart was awesome, sweet even, like candy. She dubbed it the Candy Kart even though she decided not to write the name on it. Penelope practiced riding in her kart every day at Ralph's house and finally the day of the derby arrived. Penelope knew from when she first heard about the derby that her parents wouldn't be there because they would be at work so she wasn't upset about it and they had wished her luck before they left anyway. Penelope could clearly see in the crowd that Ralph was there cheering her on. She smiled looking at this grown man getting overly excited about a soap box derby. The race started and the racers began their descent down the steep hill, passing each other trying to be in first place with Penelope quickly taking the lead. It was one of the most exciting moments of Penelope's life. Penelope won first place despite Tabitha and her goons trying some low-down dirty tricks. She was on the local news that night and in the local paper the next day and everything. At nine years old, Penelope thought it was the greatest thing to have happened to her so far. She was so proud.

Of course she mentioned Ralph (who was also interviewed in the news and newspaper and was in the newspaper picture holding Penelope on his shoulders) because she couldn't have done it without him. He took Penelope back to her house and before they went inside, she gave him a homemade medal that said "To: Stinkbrain" on one side and "You're my hero" on the other. She put the newspaper article her parents saved in a picture frame and kept it on her nightstand while Ralph treasured the medal she made him. He wore it every day under his undershirt but Penelope knew it was there as she could see the ribbon around his neck. Ralph and Penelope were inseparable, they did all sorts of stuff together around the city. Penelope noticed on their escapades that people would stare at Ralph and she didn't like it telling them it was because of a brain condition so he couldn't help it (although not exactly wrong, technically it was due to a hormone condition he had when he was thirteen but he told her it was a brain condition instead after she curiously asked him why he was "so tall and stuff", thinking she would understand that better). The starer would humbly apologize, usually not aware that they were staring and Ralph got a little bit embarrassed by this, thanking Penelope for sticking up for him but said that he didn't need her to as he was able to ignore it after nineteen years of it. Penelope respected this so she never verbally scolded any rude gawkers again but she did give them the death glare when Ralph wasn't looking though. She just wanted to stick up for him like how he stuck up for her was all, she never really meant to embarrass Ralph.

Eventually, people didn't really stare anymore, focusing more on how adorable they thought it was that this huge guy doted on this little girl. Ralph was like an older brother to Penelope and he was always there for her. He comforted her when her hamster had died explaining how sadly, it was the end of Mr. Chubbs's turn in the game and that it was time for other living things to play it. "What game, Ralph?" asked Penelope between sobs. "The game of life." said Ralph "Every day a person or animal dies but at the same time, everyday a person or animal is born. Death is a part of life as much as birth is." Those words still stuck with her. He was one of the adults who taught her how to drive and was even there for her after that nasty Tom Farchione stood her up on prom night. Ralph came over before that jerk face was supposed to show to take pictures of them and when it became apparent that he wasn't just late, they watched Arnold Schwarzenegger action movies all night while Penelope was in her prom dress (mint green of course) and black evening type high heels wearing a sparkling silver tiara with her hair and French tip nails looking great but her makeup smeared from tears. She punched Tom in the nose when she found out at school on Monday that he had ditched her for her arch enemy, Tabitha. Why Tabitha Muttonhead!?

There was even that time when Penelope's car had died in her senior year of college. She was near tears as there was no public transport in sight and she couldn't find a number for a local cab service (this was also before the days of Uber and Lyft). To top it all off, anyone Penelope called wasn't available or couldn't help her for various reasons. The only person left she could call was Ralph but it was a long drive for him to come get her (not that the ride over to her location would have been any better for anyone else Penelope knew except her college friends, but still). Penelope was stranded in the next city over from her college, too far away to walk back to her dorm. She called Ralph apologizing for asking him to come out this far but no one else was available to help her out of this troublesome situation. Without hesitation, the old son of a gun drove over two hours in the middle of winter to her rescue even making sure Penelope warmed up by blasting the heat in his car then giving her, her blanket and a cup of hot chocolate when they got to her dorm (with marshmallows, just the way she liked it) as he noticed when he came to get her, she was so cold she was shivering. And yes, like he has been since Penelope was nine, he was wearing the medal she made him. "My hero indeed." she thought as she sipped her hot chocolate.


	2. College and After College

Thinking back to her college years, Penelope even thought about their brief falling out. Ralph was a little too attached to her and was pushing for her to go to the college that was downtown but it didn't have an art program and the one Penelope wanted to go to did (a real good one too) but it was two hours away. She promised to call once a week and visit during breaks and that seemed to ease him. That was until he joined Penelope's parents in going with her to the open house and she was making friends with the group of students who were the tour guides. Ralph did _not_ approve of them, not at all, not one bit. You see, their nicknames were Shank, Butcher Boy, Pyro, and Felony and they looked tough. Even the young woman with the innocent nickname of Little Debbie looked every bit as tough as nails as the other four. Mr. and Mrs. von Scheetz warmed up to the tour guides after a while and only Ralph had a problem with the five students. He didn't think it was such a great idea for Penelope to go to this college if this was what the students were like over there and that she wanted to be with these seemingly sketchy ne'er-do-wells.

Shank was the leader of the group; she and Penelope were really hitting it off and the truth was Shank and her crew weren't all that bad. Yeah, they were a little rough around the edges back in college but all in all good people. Ralph didn't believe this and was pushing for Penelope to go to the local college after they went back home from the tour even though Penelope's parents thought they were just college kids being rebellious. "Their appearances and nicknames are like getting a tattoo while away at college to make your parents mad then regretting it after graduation so you have the tattoo removed." Mrs. von Scheetz said then said with a mortified look "Not that I know anything about that." Penelope and the others gave her a look of "oh, my God" and Penelope filed that under things she didn't want to know about her mom. Eventually it was time to start applying to colleges and Ralph was being _so obnoxious_ about going to the local college. Penelope wasn't giving up on her dream because Ralph was clingy and didn't approve of five of the many times that number of students at her first-choice college. That's when Ralph did the stupidest thing that he still regrets even though it was rectified and he had long since been forgiven by Penelope.

Penelope had finished filling out her applications when Ralph dropped by for a visit. She was so proud of getting that all done that she told Ralph about it. He offered to drop off her applications in the mailbox near his house and Penelope foolishly accepted. She guessed she never thought her best friend of nine years would do her dirty like he did, but he did, he screwed up royal. A few days later, Penelope dropped by Ralph's house to tell him about her rough day at school thanks to Tabitha. She went into the kitchen to get a snack in the middle of her story and that's when she saw it. The application for the college Ralph didn't approve of was in the kitchen garbage! Penelope was absolutely furious and took it out of the trash waving it in Ralph's face screaming about how could he do this to her, that she thought he was her best friend, and that she never wanted to see him again. Ralph meekly apologized and Penelope took the medal she made him and threw it on the ground. She stormed off as Ralph picked up the medal and was pleading with her to come back and apologized all while crying. He regretted his actions. Why did he do it? He had to do something to set things right. Ralph drove to Penelope's house and asked to see her.

Penelope was getting ready to head out for a two hours' long drive to hand in some pieces of paper. Her parents were disappointed with Ralph and he explained that he wanted to drive her over to the college and hand in the application with her watching him hand it in. Penelope accepted and the drive over there was long and silent except for Ralph apologizing for his actions and promising to never do something like that again. They made it and thankfully the college was still accepting applications. Penelope didn't say a word on the way home and Ralph didn't push for a conversation as he was on thin ice as it was. He didn't know what else to do to correct his mistake and didn't know if Penelope forgave him, that is until they arrived at the front door to her house and she gave him a hug and tearfully whispered to him "I forgive you." Ralph couldn't hold back the tears forming in his eyes and wiped them away as she went inside and waved goodbye. She was accepted and Ralph, along with Felix and Tammy (Ralph's neighbors and friends who were also friends with Penelope) were there amongst her family during her high school graduation. Ralph gave her a car racing themed graduation card and Penelope smiled at the memory of her at age nine in the soap box derby then gave him a big hug. She knew while in college she would always be counting down the days until the next break and Ralph would do the same.

In college, Penelope always made the dean's list and became a part of Shank's crew being dubbed Candy Girl because of her sweet personality. As promised, she called once a week and came back home during breaks. During her college graduation, take a wild guess as to who amongst Penelope's friends and family was cheering the loudest (even out of the rest of the crowd) when the dean called her name and she walked the stage. She's still friends with Gail Amar (Shank), Steve Kimmel (Pyro), Derek Harnell (Butcher Boy), Tiffany Nguyen (Felony), and Tasha Robinson (Little Debbie) by the way, although they haven't really used their nicknames since college except ironically or in remembrance of their college days. Shortly after Penelope graduated college, she met a young man named August Sterling. He was super cool and Penelope loved hanging out with him but she didn't know if he was interested in her. August eventually asked her out on a date a few months after they met, admitting that he was too nervous to ask her out before, being afraid that she would say no. They went out to dinner that night at a nice restaurant and had a grand old time with Penelope telling Ralph about it after she got home. She really liked August.

Not too long after their first date, August said he wanted to meet Ralph after hearing so many stories about him in the few months he and Penelope knew each other. Penelope agreed saying she was thinking about that too (she never wanted to be with someone who hated her friends or family). Ralph and August got along great much to Penelope's happiness. Four years later, August proposed and they were married a year later. Her college friends and their spouses were mixed between the front and second rows while Ralph was in the front row with Felix, Tammy, and Penelope's parents, wiping away some tears of joy. He always cried at weddings, Penelope remembered him doing the same thing at the alter during Felix and Tammy's wedding. Ralph was the best man and Penelope was a bridesmaid. She remembered the flowy, pink gown dress she had to wear for that wedding back when she was nine. Although she thought it was cute, the collar was a bit itchy so Penelope tugged on it a lot that night and that annoyed her to no end. Since her wedding day, she was now Penelope Sterling. A year after the wedding, Penelope gave birth to her first child, Nicholas Sterling and then very unexpectedly six years later, she gave birth to her other child, Kaitlynn Sterling. They both love their Uncle Ralph. Those years went by so fast it seemed.

When Ralph was forty, he got a stripe of grey hair up front on his right. Penelope thought it looked cool even though Ralph wasn't too fond of it and the fact that his hair was starting to thin in spots once he was forty-five. Ralph's hairline receded to the back of his head by the time he hit fifty-five (which Penelope liked to jokingly make fun of) and his hair went completely grey by the time he turned fifty-eight. Nick and Katie had joined in the holiday season tradition Ralph and Penelope started together long ago of watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Sometimes the kids would get annoyed with mom and Uncle Ralph singing "We're a Couple of Misfits" like they've been doing for many years. It was kind of funny with Ralph's tone deafness and that Penelope would get a bit too into singing that song (especially as a kid). There was even an adorable home video from the December when Penelope was ten of them singing along with Rudolph and Hermey. So many memories of her best friend came flooding back to Penelope as she stormed off to her car after listening to the voicemail from Felix. No, it couldn't be true. Was he alright!? He had to be okay! This was so not happening right now!


	3. The Present

Penelope is forty now and Ralph is sixty-three. Penelope knew that Ralph had some health issues in recent years but was generally doing good. Ralph was in the hospital and he had never been in the hospital the whole time Penelope knew him. That's what scared Penelope the most, she knew it had to be serious. Penelope had just clocked out from work when she saw that she had a voicemail from Felix on her phone. Felix explained that he and Tammy stopped by to visit Ralph and everything was normal until he felt very lightheaded then briefly fainted. Tammy called for an ambulance after Ralph fainted and he came to before the EMTs arrived still feeling quite lightheaded with Felix and Tammy helping him stay alert while they waited. They were downtown at the hospital and according to Felix, Ralph still felt a little weak so he was worried about Ralph. Penelope rushed to her car very emotional and she probably should not have been driving but she drove all the way to the hospital anyway. Penelope tried to ask the receptionist for Ralph's room number but the receptionist couldn't understand her. "Ma'am." she said "You need to calm down. I can't understand what you're telling me." "My friend was admitted here earlier after he fainted and I need his room number." Penelope explained calmer and she gave the receptionist Ralph's name. The receptionist looked up the room number with her computer then said after a short while "His room is on the second floor, Room 207." "Thank you." said Penelope trying her best to remain composed as she went into the elevator and put on her ID sticker. "You're welcome." said the receptionist then she helped the next person in line. Penelope called August who stayed with the kids as she headed to Room 207. Ralph was so happy to see her as she entered the room. He smiled as soon as he saw her.

"Hey kid." Ralph said. "Felix wasn't kidding." Penelope thought "He looks like he's about to fall asleep." "Hello there." said Penelope "Has the doctor told you anything yet?" "No." said Ralph "She came by a while ago to do some tests but I haven't seen her since." Then coincidentally, the doctor knocked on the open door then entered after she was told to come in. No one liked the sad look on her face then the doctor said "I have the results from the tests." She briefly paused then said that Ralph, was dying and unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done except make him comfortable. The news hit hard as the others were startled by the devastating and unexpected news. "Doctor, no offense but you can't be right. You just can't be." said Penelope as she was sobbing. "I'm so sorry ma'am. I know this is hard but, I'm afraid it's true that he's dying." said the doctor "I'll leave you guys to process the diagnosis and I will check in later to see how you all are doing and answer any questions you may have." Then the doctor left and there was a moment of uncomfortable silence except some quiet crying until Penelope said while crying "I just, I just can't believe it." She was shaking her head in disbelief. The news shook her to her core.

Eventually the doctor came back as promised and shortly after she left, Felix and Tammy left. Ralph and Penelope kept each other company and their minds away from the grim diagnosis until visiting hours were over then Penelope went home. She cried some more on the way home but no tears were coming out from all her crying earlier. Penelope opened the back door and August came by to ask her about Ralph as she took off her shoes. Penelope told him about what happened at the hospital and started to silently cry then was comforted by her husband who also started to cry. She also had to tell the kids, and Nick, being thirteen, understood what was going on and started crying along with his seven-year-old little sister who couldn't understand as she thought people get better at hospitals. Penelope explained to Katie that usually people do get better at hospitals but on the rare occasion, there's nothing the doctors and nurses can do and the patient dies. Katie seemed to understand after that and she wailed that she didn't want Uncle Ralph to "go away forever." Penelope held Katie close saying "Me neither. But that's not for us to decide." Penelope sniffled and wiped away her tears then she told Katie that it was time for bed and she helped Katie with her nighttime routine as Nick stormed off, locking himself in his room. He responded "Go away!" when his mom came by after putting Katie to bed and asked if he wanted to talk.

It was late and Penelope knew Nick was sleeping as she no longer saw a light coming from underneath his bedroom door but she didn't know for sure how long ago he went to sleep. August went to bed a few minutes ago so Penelope was alone with her thoughts. She looked up at the mantle above the fireplace in the living room and saw the newspaper article from when she won the soap box derby, thirty-one years ago. It hadn't yellowed as her parents used the club soda with milk of magnesia mix trick and she kept it out of direct sunlight. Penelope took the article off the mantle and held it in her hands as she read it. She held it close for a few moments then put it back on the mantle and went to bed. Penelope had a hard time sleeping that night as she felt that her world was shattered. Who was going to sing her a unique off-key version of Happy Birthday on her birthday? Who would stop by with burnt pies (Ralph never could get the timing and temperature for pies right so he would wind up burning them a bit)? She did prefer non-burnt pies like anyone else, but not wanting to hurt Ralph's feelings turned into her not minding the taste of burnt pies. It was the thought that counted as she knew they were made with love.

She thought about all he's done for her over the years. Even how Ralph made sure to bring Mr. McBun-Bun to the hospital and placed him so that she was holding him while she was still recovering from her appendectomy when she was sixteen, even though she no longer slept with or played with him or carried him around. At that point, Mr. McBun-Bun just lied on Penelope's bed when she wasn't in it and sat on her dresser when she was in bed. It was much appreciated though as Penelope hugged Mr. McBun-Bun the moment she found out he was the fuzzy thing she was holding. It felt nice having Mr. McBun-Bun to cuddle with as she felt very sore. It took a while for Penelope to fall asleep and unfortunately, she had a nightmare. She kept hearing people she knew calling for her (although not in a particularly panicked sort of way, more like they were calling from a distance, and the voices were echoey in an eerie sort of way) and when she would head towards the person calling her, she would fall through a crack in the floor that suddenly appeared, all the while, watched by the Grim Reaper. He did nothing but stand behind her with his scythe watching her and it creeped Penelope out. It didn't make any sense to her as she wasn't dying.

Penelope woke up and gave August a kiss goodbye when he went to work and he gave her an extra hug as she needed some TLC. Nick woke up irritable and didn't say a peep all morning then he snuck off to school without as much as a goodbye. Penelope dropped Katie off at school then drove to work and on top of her grief, she started worrying about Nick. He didn't want to talk last night after he locked himself in his room and now, he was still very upset and she knew it was about the sad news. Penelope's thoughts were eased a little after her coworkers offered their condolences when they asked why she was so distracted. She wasn't back from lunch too long when she got a call from the principal of the city's middle school. Penelope knew Mrs. Keller from way back when she was Ms. Miller in her first year as a principal when Penelope started sixth grade about twenty-eight years ago. Nick had never been sent to the principal's office yet but Penelope seriously doubted this was a "hey how've you been" call. Nick got into a fight with another boy at school and August had also been called from work to come in and discuss the situation. Why on Earth would Nick be fighting someone!? Penelope was absolutely furious with Nick.

Penelope and August made it to Nick's school and entered the principal's office with the same angry/disappointed look as Mrs. Keller. Nick sat in the middle chair in front of Mrs. Keller's desk with his arms folded and his head hung low still grouchy as ever as his parents sat in the other two seats. "Can I go and apologize to Tyler. I swear I'm not trying to lessen my punishment or run off; I just want to tell him I'm sorry." Nick said. "No." said Mrs. Keller "I need you here to discuss with your parents why you punched Tyler _then_ you can apologize to him. I'm very concerned about what you told me." "Tyler was sitting behind me in class and wouldn't stop flicking my ear after I told him to please stop flicking my ear, so I got mad and punched him then it escalated." Nick explained. "You didn't mention that Tyler bothering you 'was the last thing that you needed today' as you have 'something going on at home' and you didn't want to discuss said problem with me nor the guidance counselor because 'there's nothing anyone can do, so talking won't help'." said Mrs. Keller. Penelope's heart dropped and she said with a hint of sadness "Mrs. Keller, I'm not saying it was right for Nick to fight another student but you have to understand that what's going on at home is that Nick is having a _very_ difficult time dealing with the fact that his uncle is dying."

Mrs. Keller nodded in understanding then August said "We all are very devastated about the news from last night." Penelope looked at Nick with sorrow as she put her hand on his knee and said "Nick, I know talking about your grief won't change that Uncle Ralph is dying but you can't keep your emotions bottled up like this." Nick let go of his angry body language and was about to cry then Penelope said "You've already hurt someone because you're refusing to let yourself grieve by staying angry about it. Toughening up and pretending to not care because no one can stop it from happening won't help anyone." Nick started crying then his parents hugged him and Mrs. Keller asked as she handed Nick a tissue "Nick, would you like me to call Ms. Fish so she can take you to apologize to Tyler then to her office to talk about your uncle?" Nick nodded yes as he wiped away his tears with the tissue. Mrs. Keller told Nick and his parents that he and Tyler would have in school suspension tomorrow as punishment then called the guidance counselor who arrived shortly after to get Nick. "Penelope," said Mrs. Keller "I'm truly sorry about Ralph. I know how much he means to you." "Thank you." Penelope said while holding back tears.

Penelope came home from work then she and her family went to visit Ralph at the hospital and had a great time. Over the next few weeks, Ralph had plenty of visits from Penelope, August, and their kids as well as Felix, Tammy, and Penelope's parents. He even had visits from Penelope's college friends along with their spouses and kids as he had made friends with them ages ago. But of course, as expected, Ralph was getting worse. Penelope was visiting him alone one day and she thought he was close to the end and tried to hide her pain but Ralph saw through the façade and asked her what was troubling her as she removed her red scrunchy and redid her ponytail. She couldn't lie to him and said calmly "It's not fair. Why do you have to die soon? Why not at least a few years from now?" Ralph originally felt the same way but had eventually accepted that he was dying. He smiled and said to Penelope who was standing at his bedside "I had my fun. It's time I let other people play the game." Penelope knew what Ralph was talking about as she remembered what he told her after Mr. Chubbs died as Ralph reached a fist to her and caressed her cheek.

Penelope held Ralph's fist in between her hands (which made her hands look so dainty in comparison) as he touched her cheek while she said "You'll always be my hero." Penelope couldn't hold back her tears any longer and started sobbing then Ralph motioned for her to come closer. Penelope came closer and he gave her a hug as she was still crying. Ralph fell asleep (he was sleeping a lot more these days) then Penelope let go and tucked him in, hoping not to wake him. "Goodnight Stinkbrain." Penelope said quietly then she turned off the light above his bed and went home (this was the only light that was on making the room dark but now the room was pitch black except for the light coming in the open door from the hallway). She was exhausted when she got home and went straight to bed as it was August's turn to get Katie ready for bed. Well, she tried to go to bed. Penelope didn't get a good night's sleep though as she tossed and turned all night, feeling completely off. She tried everything she could think of to get to sleep and more importantly, stay asleep until morning came. August eventually tuned out his wife's moving about and muttering to herself but it was difficult for him. She did settle down eventually.

Morning came and Penelope didn't feel right at all. She was so anxious and feeling off that she called in sick from work. Penelope walked back home from taking Katie to school and she just entered through the front door when she got a call from the hospital telling her that last night, Ralph took a turn for the worse and wasn't expected to live past that day. Penelope was devastated and rushed to the hospital right away. Was this why she had anxiety for no reason since last night? She made it to his room, Felix and Tammy were already there as they lived closer to the hospital. Penelope called her parents, August, and her college friends so they could come over to say goodbye if they wanted to. The others came and stayed, then that afternoon, Ralph passed away. It was hard for all of them. Penelope was inconsolable as she loudly cried against August's body as he was tightly hugging her, in tears himself. Her best friend for thirty-one years, was gone. Penelope knew this was coming but it didn't make it any easier, not at all. She wished it didn't have to happen until some other year but at the same time, she knew it was out of her hands. It was time for someone else to play the game, a game called life. That's when she heard a baby crying down the hall by the maternity ward then the OB-GYN congratulating the new parents. Penelope whispered to herself "Every day a person or animal dies but at the same time, everyday a person or animal is born." This was the way of life and death, and Ralph's turn in the game, was over.

There was the wake then finally the funeral. Penelope thought it was crazy how sometimes, she could feel that Ralph was with her as if he never left. Moments like that were joked about that Ralph's ghost had visited. Nick liked the idea as he was into stories about ghosts. One night, Katie asked her mom to tell her a bedtime story as opposed to the usual reading her a bedtime story. Penelope thought about how Katie was into video games, even the old arcade games that Penelope used to play back in the day. Penelope took inspiration from her life with some exaggerations and characters that weren't based on someone she knew to make sense in the world she was creating, also adding some moments that didn't happen for either the same reason and or comedy or drama. She told Katie a very interesting bedtime story about an arcade in southern California that had been in operation since the early eighties called Litwak's Family Fun Center and Arcade. Litwak's Arcade was located in the fictional town of Los Aburridos and was owned and operated since day one by a kind, older man named Stan Litwak who loved his job.

Once the arcade closed for the night, all the video game characters hung out and had their own lives after work. Penelope went on to tell about how the good guys and bad guys didn't get along and the bad guys had a support group to help with the negative impact of the stigma of being a bad guy. She told Katie about how one bad guy named Wreck-It Ralph decided to attend a meeting after many years of the other attendees asking him to and admitted to the others that he was tired of being a bad guy due to how he has been treated for the past thirty years because of his programed job. Katie listened with intent as her mom told her how Ralph was not invited to the thirtieth anniversary party for his game and a bet with a rude NPC from his game set off a chain of events that changed Ralph's life forever. Ralph "earned" a medal in the new game that was across from his called Hero's Duty then was sent flying in a shuttle (with an enemy from the game hitching a ride) to another game, Sugar Rush Speedway. He met an adorable nine-year-old glitch named Vanellope von Schweetz who just wanted to race with the other racers from Sugar Rush. Ralph helped her at first to get his medal back then because he liked her as he realized, they weren't so different. Meanwhile his coworker, Fix-It Felix Jr., teamed up with the good guy from Hero's Duty, Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun, to find Ralph (and the Cy-Bug as well) and they start to fall in love with Calhoun originally not really feeling the same way about Felix but she did change her mind eventually.

The King Candy/Turbo Cy-Bug was defeated in a blast of diet cola lava with the other Cy-Bugs, allowing Vanellope to cross the finish line and be the leader and main character of Sugar Rush like she was programed to be (with the gamers loving her like Ralph thought they would). Felix and Calhoun got married and Ralph now lived in a proper home with his coworkers treating him nicer. Penelope added things like Tammy's middle and maiden names, incorporating her military background as the real Calhoun was once a sergeant in the USMC, having Jr. at the end of Felix's full title as the real Felix was also a Jr. being named after his dad, and having Felix be a handyman just like the real Felix (no magic hammer though of course). Penelope didn't really know how the real Felix and Calhoun met but made sure her version was very interesting and kind of funny as she thought how they met for real must have been as like their fictional counterparts, they have very different personalities but love each other very much (even after over thirty years together with the both of them now fifty-nine). Katie loved the story and was even making references to it the next day. The next time Penelope put Katie to bed, Katie requested another story about Ralph and Vanellope. Penelope had to wrack her brain to come up with another story for her.

She came up with a story about how six years after the first story, Ralph and Vanellope wound up getting the steering wheel for Sugar Rush broken through boredom and good intentions. They decided to venture through the internet after hearing about a new steering wheel being auctioned off on eBay. In an attempt to raise money to buy it, they tried to steal Shank's car then Ralph and Vanellope met the five main characters from Slaughter Race when they car chased after them to get the beautiful red sports car back but Vanellope kept outmaneuvering them at every turn, even Shank was impressed with Vanellope's skills. Vanellope quickly became enthralled with Slaughter Race but Ralph, not so much. He didn't trust Shank and her crew and wanted to leave the moment he saw how dangerous the game was. Eventually, Ralph caved to Shank's suggestion of going viral on BuzzzTube and made all the money they needed for the steering wheel. He was an overnight internet sensation! The problem was, Vanellope didn't want to go back home. She found Sugar Rush too predictable and boring, she wanted to live in Slaughter Race. Ralph found out and was furious. He did the stupidest thing; he got a virus from the dark web and unleashed it in Slaughter Race to make it less fun and exciting so Vanellope would decide to come home. Disaster struck when the virus locked onto Vanellope's glitch/insecurity causing Slaughter Race to glitch and slow down to a near halt then reboot, and Vanellope got hurt. Vanellope was upset when she came to as she thought the technical issue happened because of her glitch then Ralph confessed to what he did out of guilt.

Vanellope snapped! She was so fed up with Ralph's clingy behavior and now he tried to sabotage her dream! Ralph was apologizing up and down but it didn't matter as Vanellope ripped the medal she made him off his neck and threw it over the railing into the pit of dead websites. Ralph recovered it but it was broken in two. Arthur, the virus, returned and threatened the whole internet but Ralph managed to stop it by talking to it as it had locked on to his clinginess/insecurity and was now a manifestation of his possessiveness over Vanellope in the form of multiple Ralphs joined together to make a Ralphzilla. Ralph kept one half of the medal while Vanellope kept the other as Vanellope forgave him and started her new life in Slaughter Race after a heartfelt goodbye while Ralph went back home and joined some activities around the arcade to keep him occupied as well as keeping in touch with Vanellope once a week with the phone Yesss had given him. Penelope added in this story that Felix and Calhoun adopted the Sugar Rush racers and the racers were nice and polite now like how the real Felix and Calhoun had been foster parents since they've been married and every kid they looked after over the years never left mean and rotten. They had this special gift of raising nice and polite children and could never really explain how they did it.

Katie enjoyed this story too and she said goodnight to her mom before falling asleep. Penelope admitted to herself that it was kind of fun to make up bedtime stories. She eventually went to bed after some alone time and she felt that Ralph liked the bedtime stories she told Katie. She felt that he was listening to those stories from wherever he was. After she had been lying in bed a while, she whispered "Ralph, if you're listening, thanks for everything, and, I miss you a lot Stinkbrain." then Penelope fell asleep to the silence in the room. She had a dream where she was in her kitchen talking with Ralph over some coffee like the good old days of not too long ago. They talked about old times, laughing at all the good times and fun they had together. Penelope even filled him in on what's happened since his death. The subject of the bedtime stories came up and yes, he did in fact like them. Penelope enjoyed the dream very much and wished it could last. But she couldn't stay in a dream, she had to wake up and start her day. Would she ever have this dream again!? She didn't know for sure if she would but she sure did hope so.

In July, Katie wanted to be in the annual soap box derby, the same one her mom won all those years ago. Penelope took Katie to the attic to show her the kart she was saying would be perfect if she was interested in riding it. Katie looked at the kart and didn't realize what kart this was until she noticed the words "made by Penelope AND RALPH" as she was dusting the small layer of dust off the kart with her hand. Katie immediately accepted using the Candy Kart in the derby and was so excited about it. Katie won the race and now sat two newspaper articles on the mantle in the living room. The newer article mentioned how the kart Katie was riding was the same one her mother used when she won the derby back when she was nine and how Katie's mother built it with a friend she made when he defended her from bullies and offered to help her build a new kart. The article even mentioned how Ralph and Penelope had been very close since then with plenty of people around the city knowing about them and how Ralph sadly passed away a few months ago, having had a very long friendship with Penelope. Penelope looked at the photos from the two articles and it struck her more than usual just how much Katie looked like her.

Katie was two years younger than Penelope was when she was in the derby but they looked identical except for different hairstyles and clothes of course. Penelope sighed then said "I just wish Ralph was here to see this." "Me too." said August "He'd get a real kick out of it for sure. The kart you two built together winning _twice in the same derby_ and this time it was your daughter who won, no less." "I did it for Uncle Ralph you know. I wish he could have seen the race too." said sweet little Katie whose parents didn't know she was in the room, right behind them. "And I know Uncle Ralph would be proud of you sweetie." said Penelope then she gave her daughter a little kiss on the forehead as she hugged Katie tightly. It was a bittersweet feeling for Penelope whenever something special happened in her life and Ralph wasn't there to share in the moment. She still cried about the loss of her dear friend from time to time but knew he was in a better place now, even though it wasn't right there with her. Ralph was by Penelope's side for so many years that at first it was so hard for her to get used to him not being there but it was slowly getting easier with time. It didn't change the fact that Penelope still missed Ralph dearly.


End file.
